Swinton v Salford.
Rivalry gets talked about a lot in Rugby League especially this time of year at Easter. We get the usual social media debate about which is the biggest and best derby but for me it all depends on who you support and where your allegiances lie. Wigan v St.Helens, Hull v Hull KR, Oldham v Rochdale, Batley v Dewsbury, Leeds v Bradford, Whitehaven v Workington, Widnes v Warrington are all special in there own way and mean everything to the supporters involved. It’s bragging rights at school or in the workplace on Monday. Swinton and Salford hold a bitter rivalry which is a fierce as any of the above.
Some may say not on the same scale as some of the top flight teams as its lay somewhat dormant over the last few decades since Swinton left their spiritual home of Station Road. The two sides met in 2003 and 2008 in the Rail cup group matches. This was a competition for the clubs outside Super League. The last time these two sides competed in the same League was back in the 1991/92 season. Swinton finished bottom that year with just three victories and were relegated. Salford finished 10th with 11 wins from 26 matches. Although we didn’t know it at the time but the last meeting on 20th April 1992 would be Swinton’s final match at Station Road. Salford won the match 18-26 with Welsh winger Adrian Hadley scoring a hat trick of tries.
Over the years the two clubs has met in some very memorable matches. The Challenge Cup final of 1900 Swinton beat Salford at Fallowfield in Manchester 16-8. The two sides contested the Lancashire Cup final in 1972, Salford won on that occasion 25-11 at Wilderspool, Warrington. Both sides share another honour of having won the Rugby League Championship on six occasions. Only Huddersfield (7), Leeds (11), St.Helens (17) and Wigan (24) have won it more times. Hull FC, Hull Kingston Rovers and Bradford have also got six titles to their name.
Both clubs are going through pretty tough times at the moment for different reasons. As I write this on Monday evening I heard the news today that Swinton coach Paul Wood had resigned. Both clubs have partied company with their respective coaches within a week of each other.
I am confident things will get better for both Swinton and Salford in the coming years. There are a lot of good people involved with both clubs and that goes for the supporters too. To be a die hard supporter of either club you need a lot of patience, determination and dedication.
League away record (post Second World War).
Swinton 15
Draws 3
Salford 18
1992 Swinton 18 Salford 26
1991 Swinton 10 Salford 10
1988 Swinton 6 Salford 10
1986 Swinton 0 Salford 24
1984 Swinton 18 Salford 5
1983 Swinton 7 Salford 16
1982 Swinton 45 Salford 3
1976 Swinton 22 Salford 30
1973 Swinton 11 Salford 29
1972 Swinton 0 Salford 2
1971 Swinton 20 Salford 23
1970 Swinton 12 Salford 5
1969 Swinton 3 Salford 19
1968 Swinton 20 Salford 17
1967 Swinton 3 Salford 7
1966 Swinton 12 Salford 7
1965 Swinton 6 Salford 0
1964 Swinton 47 Salford 0
1962 Swinton 34 Salford 7
1962 Swinton 34 Salford 10
1961 Swinton 13 Salford 5
1960 Swinton 12 Salford 5
1959 Swinton 11 Salford 11
1958 Swinton 6 Salford 7
1957 Swinton 19 Salford 35
1956 Swinton 11 Salford 16
1955 Swinton 6 Salford 4
1954 Swinton 2 Salford 13
1953 Swinton 3 Salford 7
1952 Swinton 11 Salford 10
1951 Swinton 14 Salford 20
1950 Swinton 3 Salford 0
1949 Swinton 5 Salford 34
1948 Swinton 0 Salford 0
1947 Swinton 10 Salford 2
1945 Swinton 3 Salford 16
They played for both.
Over the years there has been so much player movement between the two clubs, lots of loans too. I’ve selected a fair few below,
Ian Watson, Paul Southern, Lee Marsh, Steve Gibson, Martin Birkett, Andy Coley, Alan Grice, Ian Holland, Paul Jackson, Peter Smethurst, Karl Fitzpatrick,
Graham Holroyd, Bob Irving, Jordan James, Mike Wainwright, David Watkins, Graham Mackay, Peter Norburn, Chris Atkin, Warren Ayers, Darren Bamford, Andy Ballard, Gavin Bennion, Danny Barton, Ian Blease, Phil Coussons, Chris Hankinson,
Phil Hassan, Will Hope, Ken Jones, Dai Moses, Alan Hodkinson, Andy Ackers, Darren Bloor, Frank Cassidy, Tex Evans, Carl Forster, Matt Gardner, Steve Herbert, Martin Moana, Carlo Napolitano, Stephen Nash, Dec Patton, Adam Sidlow, Jack Spencer, Kris Tassell, Ken Roberts, Gordon Graham, Graeme Johns.
A match to remember Friday 16th April 1976.
Swinton 22 Salford 30.
It’s almost fifty years ago, Easter 1976. This match was played on Good Friday. Salford were chasing the League Title and came into this fixture in patchy form having lost three away matches the previous month to Hull KR, Featherstone and St.Helens. Salford had beaten Swinton at the Willows in August 13-2. That fixture was a strange one for my dad as his brother Jeff played for Swinton. His opposite winger that day was Maurice Richards who congratulated Jeff after the match on a good performance.
Swinton were struggling at the bottom of the table and victory over their bitter rivals would certainly have put a dent in Salford’s title challenge with Featherstone and Leeds more or less neck and neck at the top of the table.
John Cooke scored a try and kicked five goals for the Lions who looked like causing an upset. Scrum half Ken Green grabbed a brace and big forward Kevin Whittle powered over for Swinton other tries.
Fielding and Watkins scored two tries each and winger Richards also touched down to give Salford another priceless two points. Salford made it an Easter hat trick beating Wigan on Easter Monday leaving just one league game remaining at Keighley on the 26th April. Salford won that match 10-18 to finish a point above runners up Featherstone Rovers. Swinton were relegated with just three wins from their thirty matches.
The teams that day,
Swinton, Les Bolton, Bob Fleay, John Cooke, Phil Ward, Ian Holland, Bob Bruen, Ken Green, Dave Chisnall, Dick Evans, Kel Earl, Kevin Whittle, Vic Lawton, Dave Robinson.
Subs, Graeme Johns, Lawrence Lowe.
Salford, David Watkins, Keith Fielding, Gordon Graham, John Butler, Maurice Richards, Ken Gill, Steve Nash, Mike Coulman, Dean Raistrick, Billy Sheffield, Peter Frodsham, Colin Dixon, Eric Prescott.
Subs, Frank Stead, Alan Grice.
Referee, Mr R Jackson of Halifax
Touch Judges, Mr W.J Greenhalgh and Mr B Baker.
Sunday’s match.
As I mentioned earlier it’s over thirty years since Swinton and Salford were in the same League as each other. It certainly feels exciting this week with the build up to the match. Heywood road is quite a tight and compact ground with the capacity being around 4,000. Hopefully Sunday it’s packed to the rafters. I’ve been trying to find out this week if Salford have ever played on Easter Sunday before. They certainly haven’t in my lifetime and I know when my dad started going in the late 1960s Easter games were Good Friday, Easter Saturday and Easter Monday.
I’ve always really enjoyed Easter Rugby League. It’s a really exciting time and becomes a real festival of the sport with matches on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Teams only play one game these days for one reason or another. Thinking back to 1975/76 season when we won our last major trophy the Rugby League Championship we played Swinton on Good Friday and Wigan away on Easter Monday. Back in 1971 we played three times, Barrow away on Good Friday, Swinton away on Easter Saturday and Wigan at home on Easter Monday, and we won all three! I was going to use the 1971 Swinton game as the match to remember this week but I decided on the 1976 game with it being fifty years ago. But going back to that Easter Saturday in 1971 my dad told me about how exciting that game was and a little bit of magic happened. It was a bit like on Question of Sport years ago when they had the ‘What Happened Next’ round. Salford were trailing the Lions in a rip roaring contest. David Watkins opted to kick for goal from a penalty kick. The kick hit the post and captain Courageous Chris Hesketh followed up to collect the loose ball and crash over for a try. Not something you see very often but Hesketh used to chase every lost cause. The ultimate competitor in a side packed with quality players. That magical try helped Salford to a 20-23 victory. It’s such a shame that there is very limited television footage of those glorious years, particularly in the 1970s. I hang on to every word when listening to my dad’s tales from matches of years gone by.
It’s been a really difficult twelve months watching Salford’s decline but one of the positives is the resurrection of this famous old fixture. Swinton have brought in Charlie McCurrie, Lucas Coan and Jimmy Shields who were at Salford last season.
Young half back Jack Stevens made his Salford debut in 2022 before he signed for the Lions ahead of the 2024 season.
Salford’s performance on Friday night against Halifax was a much improved one and really we weren’t that far off getting a result. The Panthers were just that little bit more clinical on attack. Sharper and a shade quicker they fully deserved their victory. Our pack has looked a lot stronger in recent weeks with the addition of Jack Bibby, Danny Lynch and Sam Bowring. Bibby was man of the match last Friday in a display of all action from the big prop. Bowring has impressed with his big minutes on the field, he’s a really fit and athletic player and his vocal leadership skills have really been a welcome asset. Lynch has also added plenty of power up front.
It was a bitter blow losing Matty Ross to injury and the extent of that injury has not been made known yet but we wish him a speedy recovery.
It promises to be a fantastic occasion on Sunday with it being a doubleheader. The ladies fixture kicks off at 4:30pm.
I hope you enjoy reading this preview as much as I enjoyed writing it. Have a lovely Easter.
The action gets under way at 2pm.
Safe travels and enjoy the game.
Paul Whiteside.
Big thanks to Steve McCormick for the photos and the Salford match day programme.